• Homeostasis is the?control?or?regulation?of the?internal?conditions?of a cell or organism
• Some examples of these internal conditions include:
  • Water content (of an individual cell or of the body fluids of an organism)
  • Temperature
  • pH
  • Blood pressure
  • Blood glucose concentration

   

• It is important for an organism to keep these internal conditions?within set limits?to ensure they stay?healthy?and to?maintain optimum conditions?to allow the organism to?function?in response to internal and external changes
• If these limits are?exceeded, the organism may?die
• Homeostasis maintains optimal conditions for?enzyme?action?and?all?cell?functions
• This ensures that?reactions in body cells can function?and therefore the organism as a whole can live
• Two examples of homeostasis in humans include the?control of body temperature?and the?control of body water content

Control of body temperature in humans

• The?core body temperature?of humans is kept close to?37°C
  • This is very tightly controlled as a change in core body temperature of more than 2°C can be fatal
  • One reason for this is that such a temperature change would stop essential enzymes from functioning optimally

   

• For this reason, the human body must be able to make a?coordinated response?to any?rise?or?fall?in body temperature
• Body temperature is monitored and controlled by the?thermoregulatory?centre?in the base of the brain as blood passes through it
• The thermoregulatory centre contains?receptors?that are sensitive to the temperature of the blood
• The skin also contains?temperature receptors?and sends nervous impulses to the thermoregulatory centre
• The brain then coordinates a cooling or heating response, depending on what is required

Cooling mechanisms in humans

• Vasodilation of skin capillaries
  • Heat exchange (both during warming and cooling) occurs at the body's surface as this is where the blood comes into closest proximity to the environment
  • One way to?increase heat loss?is to supply the?capillaries?in the skin with a?greater volume of blood, which then loses heat to the environment via?radiation
  • Arterioles?(small vessels that connect arteries to capillaries) have muscles in their walls that can relax or contract to allow more or less blood to flow through them
  • During?vasodilation, these muscles?relax, causing the arterioles near the skin to?dilate?and allowing more blood to flow through capillaries
  • This is why pale-skinned people go red when they are hot

   

• Sweating
  • Sweat is secreted?by sweat glands
  • This cools the skin by evaporation?which uses heat energy from the body to convert liquid water into water vapour

   

• Flattening of hairs
  • The hair erector muscles in the skin?relax, causing hairs to lie?flat
  • This stops them from forming an insulating layer by trapping air and allows air to circulate over skin and heat to leave by?radiation

   

Responses in the skin when the body temperature is too high and needs to decrease

Warming mechanisms in humans

• Vasoconstriction of skin capillaries
  • One way to?decrease heat loss?is to supply the capillaries in the skin with a?smaller volume of blood, minimising the loss of heat to the environment via?radiation
  • During vasoconstriction, the muscles in the arteriole walls?contract, causing the arterioles near the skin to constrict and allowing less blood to flow through capillaries
  • Vasoconstriction is not, strictly speaking, a 'warming' mechanism as it does not raise the temperature of the blood but instead reduces heat loss from the blood as it flows through the skin

   

• Shivering
  • This is a?reflex action?in response to a decrease in core body temperature
  • Muscles contract in a rapid and regular manner
  • The metabolic reactions required to power this shivering generate sufficient heat to warm the blood and raise the core body temperature

   

• Erection of hairs
  • The hair erector muscles in the skin?contract, causing hairs to?stand on end
  • This forms an insulating layer over the skin's surface by trapping air between the hairs and stops heat from being lost by?radiation

   

Responses in the skin when body temperature is too low and needs to increase

Body Temperature Control Summary Table

Control of body water content in humans